1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sales slip processing at stores such as a retail store and a restaurant. In particular, the invention relates to a sales slip processing method capable of simplifying a sales slip processing that is performed by a salesclerk operating a cash register or POS (point of sales) terminal device at the restaurant, and to a sales slip processor using the method.
In the following description, a salesclerk operating a sales slip processor is referred to as a “shop operator” A slip issued for a customer in response to an order from the customer is referred to as an “order slip (order form)”. Order information recorded on the order slip is referred to as “order data”. The order data that is provisionally recorded until payment is referred to as “provisional data”. This provisional data is called “sales data” after the payment.
2. Description of the Related Art
As conventional sales slip processing methods, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-302162 discloses a sales slip canceling method for canceling a sales slip upon the payment with a POS terminal device at a restaurant if desired.
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-282562 discloses a cash register as such a terminal device, which is installed at the restaurant etc. and to which data about orders from a customer is entered, and then payment data is entered in accordance with the charges of the customer. Thus, corresponding order data is settled.
Referring now to FIGS. 7 to 10, a description is given of the sales slip processing at the restaurant as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 10-302162 and 9-282562.
FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the block configuration of a sales slip processor typified by a cash register or POS terminal device. The sales slip processor has general image processing functions, and serves as an information processor including an input unit 101 such as a keyboard, a screen display part 102, a printer 103, a controller 104 having a central processor unit (CPU) as a main component, a software memory 105 storing a program etc., an order data holding memory 106, and a sales data storing memory 107, which are connected with one another through a bus.
FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an order slip 110 obtained by a salesclerk entering order information in a terminal (not shown) and printing the input information from a printer. The order information that is input to the terminal carried by the salesclerk is registered in the order data holding memory 106 and recorded as provisional data. The provisional data recorded in the order data holding memory 106 includes a slip code 111, a table code 112, and an item data 113 as shown in FIG. 8.
At the restaurant, in general, a salesclerk operates the sales slip processor when a customer pays the bill. The operator calls the provisional data on the basis of the slip code 111 of the order slip 110 with the input unit 101 to display the order data held in the order data holding memory 106, that is, the provisional data on a screen and confirms whether or not the display content matches the information of the order slip.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation flow of the controller 104 when a customer pays for a meal.
Upon receiving an instruction to “call provisional data” which is entered to the input unit 101 using the slip code 111 (step S101), the controller 104 searches the order data holding memory 106 for corresponding provisional data on the basis of the slip code 111 (step S102). When the provisional data matching the input slip code 111 is found (YES in step S103), the controller 104 calls and displays the provisional data on the screen display part 102 (step S104).
The shop operator compares the item data 113 displayed on the screen with the order slip of the customer, and if matched, presses a “check out” key of the input unit 101 when the customer desires to check out the bill.
After “data have matched” (YES in step S105), if receiving an instruction to “check out” from the input unit 101 (YES in step S106), the controller 104 executes predetermined processings, that is, an accounting processing for calculating the sales on the basis of the called provisional data to print the calculation result from the printer 103, and a sales registering processing for registering the sales data in the sales data storing memory 107 (step S107).
If no data is matched (NO in step S103) and the input slip code 111 matches with none of the provisional data in the order data holding memory 106, or if no data is matched (NO in step S105) and the item data 113 is not matched, the controller 104 calls the provisional data using the table code 112 in place of the slip code 111 as indicated by step S111 of FIG. 10 and subsequent steps (these steps are described below). In short, this procedure applies to the case where customers of different groups sit together at the same table at the restaurant.
Further, if there is no instruction to “check out” (NO in step S106), and the order is cancelled or another order is made, the controller 104 executes a predetermined order change processing (step S108) in accordance with an instruction from the input unit 101 and then records the called and changed data in the order data holding memory 106 as the provisional data.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for searching for the provisional data on the basis of the table code, not the slip code of the order slip.
Upon receiving an instruction to “call provisional data” from the input unit 101 on the basis of the table code 112 (step S111), the controller 104 searches the order data holding memory 106 for corresponding provisional data on the basis of the table code 112 (step S112). If the provisional data matching with the input table code is found (YES in step S113), the controller 114 calls and displays the provisional data on the screen display part 102 (step S114).
The shop operator compares the item data 113 displayed on the screen with the order slip of a customer, and if matched, presses the “check out” key in the input unit 101 if the customer desires to check out the bill.
After “data have matched” (YES in step S115), in response to the instruction to “check out” from the input unit 101, the controller 104 executes predetermined accounting processings, that is, an accounting processing for calculating the sales on the basis of the called provisional data to output the calculation result from the printer 103, and the sales registering processing for registering the data in the sales data storing memory part 107 (step S117).
If there is no corresponding provisional data (NO in step S113), and the input table code 112 matches with none of the provisional data in the order data holding memory 106, the controller 104 displays a predetermined alarm message indicating “no provisional data” (step S120).
Further, if data are not matched (NO in step S115), and the item data 113 is not matched, the controller 104 receives an instruction to “call provisional data” from the input unit 101 on the basis of the same table code 112 as that in step 8111 (step S121), and searches the order data holding memory 106 for provisional data of another slip code using the same table code 112 (step S122). The controller returns to step S113 and repeats subsequent steps. In this case, if the same table code cannot be matched throughout the order data holding memory 106, it is determined that there is no corresponding data (NO in step S113). Thus, an alarm message is displayed.
If there is no instruction to “check out” (NO in step S116), and the order is cancelled or another order is made, the controller 104 executes a predetermined order change processing (step S118) in accordance with an instruction from the input unit 101 and then records the called and changed data in the order data holding memory 106 as the provisional data.
As mentioned above, the salesclerk who takes on the task of operating the sales slip processor such as the POS should enter the code such as the slip code or table code with a keyboard etc. for displaying the held order information as provisional data. In order to switch the display screen from this data to other sales information, a shop operator must charge a customer for the order or rehold the currently displayed order data, and then enter a slip code or table code of the target sales information to call the provisional data.
Therefore, especially in the above case, separate tables are temporarily combined into one in response to a request from customers, and the customers are assumed as the same group. Thus, even if the order slips are separately prepared for different tables with the same table code to enter the order data, in the case where some items have been ordered, this order should be processed separately for different tables because of different slip codes irrespective of the customers of the same group. Therefore, when any item is cancelled or added from/to the order slip, it is necessary to cancel or add the item from/to each order information to hold the changed data again.
Therefore, especially upon the payment, the provisional data should be called for each of plural order slips for the same group. This forces the shop operator to perform the troublesome operation of entering the slip code or table code of several digits with a keyboard, for example, every calling operation.
The following problems remain to be solved. That is, when customers of the same group occupy plural tables at the restaurant, for example, and the plural order slips are issued with the same table code, the provisional data should be retrieved and called through the entry of the slip code or table code for each order slip at the time of the payment or data change due to the cancellation of the items, and the additional registration of items. As a result, it is impossible to simplify the operation of the shop operator.